Erling Haaland is doing at Man City in Premier League what nobody expected

Glance at the Premier League assist charts for the season and the usual subjects are there.

Kevin De Bruyne is three ahead of Bukayo Saka, United pair Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes are in there as are Liverpool duo Andy Robertson and Mo Salah. Of more surprise is one of the figures rounding out the top ten: Manchester City's imposing striker Erling Haaland.

There has been a lot made about how Haaland makes the City team less fluid and dynamic, with his permanent presence up front making them more predictable than when they have no obvious focal point. Scoring 27 league goals with a third of the season to go would suggest that City are no worse off though for being more orthodox.

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More than that, just nine players have more assists in the league than Haaland has. He chalked up his fifth in Saturday's win over Newcastle and the leap that accompanied the celebration of Bernardo Silva's goal was truly terrifying.

Not only has Haaland exceeded expectations of his goalscoring ability with 33 in all competitions this season, his tally of assists is more than useful for Pep Guardiola in helping the team to score. With the Norwegian's personal best standing at 7 in the Bundesliga for Dortmund, there is every chance he can break another personal milestone before the season is out.

It could be that being in a more attacking team that creates more chances means that Haaland will naturally get more assists playing for this City team. However, while his goalscoring has been endlessly debated there has been little discussion about his extra, less noticeable work that allows his teammates to prosper.

The joy on Haaland's face when